Manure spreader



H. H. VARLAND.

MANURE SPREADER. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I, 1920.

1,455533366 a I Patented Nov. 141, 1922.

3 SHEETSSHEET l.

H. H. VARLAND.

MANURE SPREADER.

APPLHCATION FILED SEPT-1; 1920.

1,435,766 Patentea. Nov. 141, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEE1 2i H H Mrami V69 WW is a. division of my blot. ll, iii-232.

Manner. srnnannn.

Original application filed June 5, 19.1.8, Serial No. 238,351.

Divided and this application filed September 1, 1820. Serial No.407,317. v

e it known that l, HIRAM ll. VAumNn, a citizen of the United States,residing at on ilitypiu the county oi Woodbury and h ate oi lows, haveinvented certain new and useful improvements in Manure Spreaders, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to manure loaders and spreaders and the presentapplication application filed June 5,1918, Serial No. 238,351.

The leader and spreader embodying the invention in general is operableto work into a pile of manure and automatically load the same into thebox of the machine after which the machine may be operated to distributethe load, and the machine embodies a beater cylinder which is rotatablymounted in a drop section of the be): which may be lowered so as tobring the beater cylinder to such position that when rotated in onedirection it wlll take up manure from the pile and deliver the same ontoa travelapron within the bottom of the box by which latter medium themanure is carried 1 11.101 THO. r l" roiwaic y (oIlC oar cc. .1-..0311:1{61 is also designed to operate to distribute or spread the manurewhen the machine is employed for this latter purpose.

One object of the present invention is to provide in connection with thebeate pneumatic blast means for assisting in loading the manure into thewagon box, this means consisting of series of fan blades mounted withinthe beater cylinder or drum and adapted to create a forced current ofair blowing in the direction of the adjacent end of the conveyor apron.At the same time this blast device will prove use tul in the spreadingof the manure as itwill serve to blow the same in the direction in whichit to be deposited and will turthermore, pro.

\"ent clogging Oil the heater teeth.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means forcontrolling the spread of the manure so that it in be thrown more orless directly toward the ground surface as desired, this meanscomprising a hood section working over the top of the casing in whichthe beater cylinder is mounted, and means for adjusting the said hood sothat it will extend to a greater or less dis tance over or about theupper side o the said cylinder.

of the distributing end of an axle 3, the

In the accompanying drawings:

l igure 1 is a side elevation of the combiuedloader and spreaderembodying the present invention, the same being illustrated in operationto spread the manure;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through one end of themachine illustrating the drop section lowered so that the beatercylinder may operate to load the manure from a pile into the box;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view ofthe end portion of the machine shown in F 2.

In its general arrangement of parts, the

machine embodying the present invention differs materially from manurespreaders now in use inasmuch as in the instance of the present machine,the manure is distributed or spread from the forward end of the bed orbox of the machine instead of from the rear end thereof, the beatercylinder being located at the said forward end of the box and meansbeing provided for pro polling the machine over the ground surface. Dueto this novel arrangement, the operator of the machine is enabled to atall times observe the manner in which the manure is being spread in'thefield and he may therefore correspondingly control the operationmechanism to produce a lighter or a heavier spread as desired.

In the drawings-the numeral 1 indicates in general the bed frame of themachine, and the numeral 2 indicates tractor wheels -wh ich support therear end of this frame and which are fixedly mounted upon the forwardend oi the bed frame being supported by ground wheels 4 freely rotatablymounted upon spindles 5 carried by the usual bolster 6. Suitablesteering mechanism indicated in general by the numeral 7 is, of course,connected with the spindles 5 to provide for steering the mechanism inits travel. The numeral 8 indicates in general an engine. such for or;-ample as an internal. combustion engine which is mounted upon the bedtrame .lv at the rear end thereof and in front of the opcrators seatwhich latter is indicated by the numeral 9. The engine shaft isindicated by the numeral 10, and loosely mounted upon this shaft at oneend thereof is a sprocket gear 11 about which is passed a sprocket chain12 which chain is passed also about a sprocket gear .13 fixed upon oneend of the axle 3. Any suitable clutch device may he provided for thepurpose of clutching;- the gear 11 with the engine shaft when it isdesired to cause travel of the machine over the field and forunclutching the said gear when it is desired to arrest the movement ofthe machine or to bring into operation a means which is described in mysaid copending application and which operates to ad-- vance the machinewith a step by step motion during the loading operation.

The box of the machine is indicated in general) by the numeral 15 andthis box as a whole is divided transversely at a point innnediately inadvance of the bolster 6 so as to provide front and rear sectionsindicated respectively by the numerals 16 and. 17. The bed frame of themachine is correspondingly divided and it may, for the sake ofclearncss. be considered as a part of the box 15. The box sections 16and 17 include side walls indicated respectively by the numerals 1S and19 and of course the conveyor apron usually employed in machines of thistype constitute the bottom of the said box. The sections 16 and 17 ofthe box and bed frame are connected by a pivot joint 20 so that thesection 17 may have downward pivotal movement to substantially theposition shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings and, in the operation of themachine as a spreader may be caused to assume an upright or normalposition as shown in Fig. 1. The forward section of the box may, in viewof the foregoing, be considered as a drop section and of course whendropped to the position shown in Fig. 9 it willv permit of loading ofthe box as a whole, it being; on the other hand raised to the positionshown in Fig; 1 when the machine is to be employed as a spreader.

The endless conveyor apron above mentioned is indicated in general bythe numeral 2.1. and the upper stretch thereof passes over rollers 22-as is usual in machines of this class. The apron at its rear end passesabout a shaft 23 rotatably journaled in suitable bearings at the rearend of the box 15, and at its forward end the apron passes about a shaft2 1 journaled in suitable bearings at the forward end of the. section 17of the box. Of course. when the forward or drop section of the box' isdropped or swung downwardly to loading position the forward portion ofthe conveyor apron will be deflected in a downrd ;lirection. and inorder that the lower ctr ch of the said apron. may be supported at thetime of so adjusting; the said section of the box the said lower stretchof the apron passes over an idle roller 25 mounted immediatelyrearwardly of the hinge connection 20 between the fixed and droppedsections of the box. Secured in any suitable side walls 19 of thesection 17 of the box manner to the outer faces of the are metallicplates 26 which extend rear wardly and close beside the side walls ofthe section 16 of the said box the said plates constituting lever armsin a manner which will now be explained. While the members 26 areillustrated in the drawings as in the form of metallic plates, thesemembers may be of frame-lilre structure although it is preferable toemploy plates, as said members will then serve to span and close the gapbetween the forward ends of the walls .18 and the rear ends of the walls19 when the drop section of the box is swung downwardly. In order toprovide for swinging of the members 26 and thereby raise or lower thedrop section of the box as may be desired, a shaft 27 is mounted in suitable bearings transversely beneath the frame 1 of the machine andcarries pinions 28 which mesh with arcuate racks 29 which racks aresecured at their upper ends to the respective members 26 at the rear endof the said members as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. One endof the shaft 2'? is preferably squared for the application thereto of acrank handle (not shown) whereby it may be rotated, and it will beunderstood that when the shaft is rotated in one direction, the arcuateracks E2 9 willv be moved upwardly to permit of lowering of the dropsectionto the loading position and whenthe shaft is rotated in theopposite direction the racks will be moved. downwardly so as to raisethe said drop section to spreading position. A pawl 30 is provided forcoaction with one of the pinions 2-8 so as to hold the shaft againstrotation. when the drop section has been adjusted to the desiredposition. In order to suitably cushion the lowering movement of the dropsection curved rods 31. are suitably secured at their upper ends to themembers .26 and work through suitable guides upon the respective sidesof the bed frame 1. A. spring 33 is arranged upon each of the rods 31and by engagement with the respective guide will serve the purpose abovestated. Inasmuch as the drop sec tion carries the beater cylinder andother parts to be hereinafter described, there is considerably moreweight at the forward side of the hinge for the said'section than at therear side of the said hinge and. consequently, the tendency is for thesaid scction to swing to its lowered position. Therefore, in order tolower the section it is not necessary to manually rotatethe shaft 27 asit may be freed for rotation by lifting the pawl 30 out of engagementwith the pinion 28. Then the downward or dropping movement of thesection 17 will be cushioned by the spring 33 as above pointed out.

The heater cylinder of the machine is housed within a casing indicatedgeneral by the numeral 3 1. The side walls of this casing are indicatedby the numeral and form a continuation of the respective side walls 19of the drop section 17 of the box.

he casing further includes a downwardly and forwardly curving bottomwall 36 and an upwardly and forwardly curving top wall 37. The bottomwall 36 of the casing is so curved and proportioned that when the dropsection of the box is in lowered to load ing position as shown in Fig.2, the forward edge of the said bottom wall will lie close to the groundsurface. It will be understood, of course, that the casing is open atits front inasmuch as the top wall. 37 and bottom wall 36 have theirforward edges terminating but slightly in advance of the transversevertical plane in which the beater shaft is located. This shaft isindicated by the numeral 38 and is rotatably mounted in suitablebearings upon the side walls 35 of the casing and has fixed upon it thespaced heads 39 of the beater cylinder or drum. The usual slats 40 aresecured at their ends to the peripheries of the heads 39 and completethe said cylinder or drum, and these slats support the beater teethwhich are indicated by the numeral 41, and which teeth, in the rotationof the beater cylinder, are designed to throw or scatter the manure in aforward direction when the machine is being employed as aspreader and topick the manure from the pile and throw it in a rearward direction andonto the apron 21 when the machine is being loaded. In order that ablast of air may be created in the rotation of the beater cylinder, itis preferable that fan blades 42 be provided, these blades being securedat their ends as at 13 to the inner or opposed faces of the heads 39 ofthe cylinder, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The outeredges of the fan blades are located close to the periphery of the cy1-inder whereas their inner edges are spaced a suitable distance from theshaft 38. Of course, in the rotation of the cylinder both in thespreading and loading operations, the fan blades 42 will create a blastof air which will greatly assist in spreading the manure in the firstinstance and blowing the same rearwardly, in the latter instance. Alsothis air blast will serve effectually to prevent clogging of the teethof the beater cylinder in both operations of the machine. By ref erenceto Fig. 2 of the drawings it will be ob served that the shaft 24 for theconveyor apron 21 is located immediately rearwardly of the beatercylinder so that in the spreading or distributing operation of themachine, in which operation the upper stretch of the apron 21 movesforwardly, the load of manure will be gradually fed toward the cylinderas material is picked from the load by the beater teeth and spread ordistributed. Of course, in the loading operation of the mablow thematerial chine the beater teeth in passing at the open side of thecasing for the beater cylinder, will gather or pick material from thepile and throw the same in a rearward direction and on to the said apron21. Inasmuch as in the first-mentioned operation of the machine theupper and rear sides of the cylinder are the effective or working sides,and in the loading operation of the machine the forward and under sidesare the effective or working sides, the cylinder is, in both operations,rotated in the same direction. In order to impart rotary motion to thecylinder, a pulley 4:41 is fixed upon the shaft 38,

and a belt 45 is passed about this pulley and also about a pulley 4:6fixed upon the engine shaft 10. As before stated, when the drop sectionof the box is in loading position as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings,the forward edge of the bottom wall 36 of the casing housing the beatercylinder will be located in close proximity to the ground surface, butin order to prevent this edge digging into the soil or coming in contactwith raised portions of the ground surface, rollers 47 are provided forsupporting the casing for passage over the ground surface. These rollersare mounted for free rotation at the lower ends of bracket plates 48disposed against the outer sides of the side walls 35 of the beatercylinder casing and held in place by means of bolts 49 which areadjustably received in arcuate slots 50 formed in the said side walls35. It will be apparent and particularly by reference to Figs. 1 and 2of the drawings, that the rollers 47 may be adjusted toward and from theforward edge of the bottom wall 36 of the casing 34; by loosening thebolts 49 and then sliding the bracket plates 48 along the side walls 35of the said casing in a forward or rearward direction and then againtightening the bolts.

Upon reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings it will be readily understoodthat when the machine is in use as a spreader, the upper stretch of theapron 21 will be traveling in the direction of the beater cylinder, andas the cylinder rotates the beater teeth 41 will pick up the manure asit is fed to the cylinder and will throw or scatter the same in aforward direction, the manure being, of course, discharged through theopen forward side of the casing 34. Usually it will be desirable toleave the said side of the casing entirely open as shown in Fig. 52 toprovide for a more thorough scattering of the material, but when themachine is in, operation in windy weather it is desirable that means heprovided for partly closing the open side of the casing. especially theupper portion of the said open side so that the manure will be depositedmore nearly in a direct downward direction on to the ground surface. asotherwise the wind would to one side to such an extent that an evenswath could not be deposited. Therefore, in order to accomplish thedesired result the top wall 37 oi the casing 34: is supplemented by anadjustable hood which may occupy the position shown in Fig. 2 or may bemoved to a greater or less distance in a forward direction andconsequently to extend forwardly beyond the forward edge of the said topwall 37. This hood is indicated by the numeral 51 and the same comprisesan arcuate plate of substantially the same dimensions as the top wall37, the hood being disposed concentrically with relation to the shalt 3Sand the said top wall 37 and exteriorly ot the said wall. To guide thehood and hold the same assembled with the casing 34:, the side walls ofthe casing are formed with arcuate slots 52 which extend from a pointadjacent the rear end ot the top wall 37 to a point nearly horizontallyopposite the shaft 38. At the corners of the hood 51, the platecomprising the hood is provided with downstruck ears or lugs 53 whichwork in the said slots 52 so that the hood is in this mannersupportedfor concentric backward and forward movement upon the top of: the casingand is at the same time secured against outward separation from thecasing. In order to provide for adjustment of the hood from theoperators position upon the machine, a shaft 54B is rotatably mounted atthe rear end of the wall 37 and fixed upon each end of the shaft is alever arm 55.

Lever arms 56 are provided with collars 57 which loosely fit the ends ofthe shaft 38, and which collars provide for swinging movement oi? thearms F6 about the shaft as a center. The arms 56 are pivotally connectedat their outer or upper ends as at 58 with the rear corners ot the hood51, and connecting bars or links 59 are connected with the arms 56 andthe lower ends of the respective arms 55. The arm 55 is provided with anupward extension indicated by the numeral 60 and to the upper end ofthis extension is connected one end of a flexible element, such forexample as a rope or cable indicated by the numeral 61. 'lhis flexableelement is led rearwardly and is provided at intervals throughout itsrear portion with knots or other abutment ele ments 62 which may beselectively brought into engagement with any suitable keeper device 63.A spring (i -t is connected at one end as at 65 to that side wall oi thecasing 34-. at which the lever arm carrying the extension (i() islocated and the other end of this spring is connected to the saidextension of the lever arm. By reference to Figure 1 of the drawings itwill be understood at this point that the spring at exerts a pull uponthe extension of the lever arm 55 in a manner to cause the said arm toin turn exert a pull upon the connecting bar 59 and, therefore, the hood51 is normally held at the rear limit of its movement. However, bypulling upon the cable 61 and swinging the lever arm against the tensionof the spring Get, the hood will be rotated in a forward direction tomore or less completely cover and close the upper side of the open frontof the casing 34. The hood may be held inadjusted position by engaging aselected one of the knots or abutments 62 with the keeper device 63.

It will be understood, of course, that any desired means may be providedfor imparting travel to the apron 21, one such means being disclosed inmy said copending application.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a spreader, a box, a casing at one end of the box having closedsides, a closed top, and a closed bottom, the casing having an open sidecommunicating with the box and an opposite open side for the passage ofthe material, a hood adjustable with relation to the top and to thelast-mentioned open side of the casing, and a beater rotatably mountedwithin the casing.

52. In a spreader, a box, a casing at one end of the box having closedsides, a closed arcuate top, and a closed bottom, the easing having anopen side communicating with the box and an opposite open side for thepassage of the material, a hood movable concentrically with the saidarcuate top of the casing, means supporting the hood for such movement,means for adjusting the hood with relation to the said top and to thelastmentioned open side of the casing whereby under appropriateconditions the upper portion of the last-mentioned open side may be moreor less closed so as to direct the material in a downward directionrather than broadcast, and a heater rotatably mounted within the casing.

In a spreader, a box, a casing at one end of the box having closedsides, a closed arcuate top, and a closed bottom, the casing having anopen side communicating with the box and an opposite open side for thepassage of the material, arms mounted for swinging movement, a hoodsupported by said arms for movement above the said closed top and in oneposition adapted to overlie said top within the bounds thereof and inanother position adapted to extend to a greater or less extent over theupper portion oi? the last-mentioned open side of the casing to more orless close said side, means connected with one oil the arms and operableto adjust the said hood, and a heater rotatably mounted within thecasing.

1. In a spreader, a box, a casing at one end of the box having closedsides, a closed arcuate top, and a closed bottom, the casing having anopen side communicating with the box and an opposite open side for thepasthe casing to more or less close said side, 10 sage of the material,arms mounted for means connected with one of the arms and swingingmovement, a hood supported by operable to adjust the said hood, a springsaid arms for movement above the said, connected with one of said armsfor yieldclosed top and in one position adapted to ably holding the samein position to mainoverlie said top Within the bounds thereof tain thehood in full open position, and a. 15 and in another position adapted toextend beater rotatably mounted Within the casing.

to a greater or less extent over the upper In testimony whereofl afiixmy signature. portion of the last-mentioned open side of HIRAM H,VARLAND. [L. 3.]

